Alice Roosevelt Longworth: The Irreverent First Daughter

Alice Roosevelt Longworth was the eldest child of President Theodore Roosevelt and the only child he had with his first wife Alice Hathaway Lee, who died shortly after the birth of baby Alice Lee in February of 1884.

The life that Alice led was unconventional and frequently controversial. She was one of the first women to be seen smoking in public and one of the first women in America to drive a car. Often she poked fun at those she considered uptight. Alice became widely known as "Princess Alice" and "Washington's Other Monument". She was also known for having a wicked wit and took pride in the stinging comments she dispensed. Family members were known to suggest that she would rather coin a good phrase than do a good deed.

Many of the biting remarks attributed to Mrs. Longworth were slung at well known Washington politicians.

Of Calvin Coolidge she once said, "He looks as if he were weaned on a pickle".

Her comments on William Taft and Herbert Hoover were not much nicer. Of Taft she said, "He has so much brain and so little beauty." Hoover inspired her to say, "The Hoover Vacuum Cleaner is more exciting than the president. But, of course, it's electric."

Relatives were not immune to Alice's barbs either. She declared that her cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was "One-third sap and two-thirds Eleanor." Even her own father earned the comment from his daughter that, "Father always wants to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening."

The late Senator Joseph McCarthy once took the liberty of calling her by her first name. In response she looked at him icily and declared, "The policeman and the trash man may call me Alice; you.can.not."

Once upon a time Lyndon B. Johnson proudly showed off an abdominal surgery scar and Mrs. Longworth commented dryly, "Thank God it wasn't his prostate."

When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, the former first daughter asked, "Hasn't anyone ever warned Jacqueline Kennedy about Greeks bearing gifts?"